Creating a Wedding Reception Guest List

It might seem hard to figure out whom you should or shouldn't include
in the guest list for your wedding reception . Basically there are four
parties that you need to consider that have an influence on the guest
that you invite

The bride

The groom

The bride's parents

The groom's parents

I believe that the easiest way to go about creating your list is by
giving each of the parties mentioned above 25% of the guest list to
invite. This actually works out well because in the end the bride and
groom end up with the majority of the guests. Each party invites

Family

Friends

Acquaintances

Co-workers

*The Trick?*

The bride and groom should make their lists first.

They should invite all of the friends, co-workers and acquaintances that
couple wishes to have attend the reception, then add close family
members.

This way the parents will most likely invite the remaining family
members that should attend and will have a limit in the number of their
friends that they invite.

Also many couples share some of the same friends so the couple ends up with the majority of guests invited.

Determining the Head Count

If you have an unlimited budget with which to work then you might be
able to invite as many guests as you like. But you need to make sure
that you can find a reception facility to handle the amount of guests on
your list.

Most banquet facilities can handle anywhere from 250 guests to 500
guests. If you are limited in your budget then you need to realize that
most facilities charge at least $25 per person and your reception will
most likely consume about half of your wedding budget.

My wedding reception cost my husband and I a little less than
$10,000. $7,500 (plus tax and gratuity) of that money was for the
banquet hall, food, beverages, linens, china. It did not include our
cake, entertainment, favors, or centerpieces. So we had a guest list of
250 people at $30 a head. But if you want to have your reception at a
place that charges $60 or more per person and still wanted to stay below
$10,000 for your reception, then you would have to invite more like 125
people. This is how you can use your budget to determine how many
guests you plan to invite.

Keep in mind that around 75% of the people that you invite will attend
the wedding and reception. So don't compile a guest list of 300 people,
hoping that only 175 (the capacity your chosen site can handle) will
RSVP in the affirmative because you may end up with more mouths to feed
than you can handle.